Start To Finish Success With Kit Furniture

For tables and chairs that come in pieces, tips from wood finishing expert Bruce Johnson.

People are drawn to kit furniture because of its high quality and excellent
value. Compared to the price tag in furniture stores, the cost of a kit
looks pretty attractive. And today’s kits offer both a wide selection
of quality woods and an equally broad range of designs, from basic styles
to magnificent reproductions.

Kits also offer the convenience of ordering from home – from a
catalog or the Internet – and you’ll find that assembly tends
to be fairly straight-forward and clearly described in the directions.
And equally important, a kit gives you complete control over the stain
colour and finish, allowing you to coordinate the piece with your décor.

Like any kind of furniture, you want good quality in both the wood and
the way the pieces go together. If it’s not rustic pine, the wood
should be knot-free; there shouldn’t be any dings, dents or other
blemishes; the colour and grain of the visible pieces should be similar,
and joints should fit snugly.

After the kit arrives, do a dry-fit assembly to make sure all the parts
go together properly. Before staining the piece, which should be done
before the assembly, sand away any scratches or roughness with 220-grit
sandpaper. For irregular surfaces like lathe-turned legs, use a sponge-lock
sander.

The stain can go on soon after the wood conditioner; apply it with a
clean, lint-free rag or a bristle or foam brush, taking care to keep it
out of glue joints. Staining before assembly prevents glue from getting
on the wood surface which tends to seal out stain and produce uneven colour.
Staining first also ensures complete stain coverage, especially in hard-to-reach
areas.

As for choosing a stain, you’ve got lots of options. Minwax®
Wood Finish™, an oil-based stain available in 20 wood-tone colours,
gives you plenty of working time to ensure even coverage. Oil-based
Minwax® Gel Stain, available in eight
wood-tone colours, is thick and viscous and offers more control and
less chance of runs or splashes, especially on doors or paneling that
you can’t lay flat.

Minwax®
Water Based Wood Stain comes in six ready-mixed colours, a white wash
pickling stain and 60 decorator colours that are mixed in the store, allowing
you to choose from a wide range of contemporary blues, reds, greens, yellows
and other colours. For maximum convenience, consider using either Minwax®
PolyShades®, an oil-based, one-step brush-on
stain and polyurethane available in nine wood-tone colours in gloss and
satin sheens, or Minwax®
Water-Based WoodSheen®, a rubbing water-based stain and finish
available in six wood tones.

Whichever stain you choose, do some practice applications on scrap wood
to get a feel for how it goes on, sets up and wipes off. You should always
do a colour test on a small and hidden portion of the kit. Try different
waiting times between application and wipe-off and you’ll see slight
variations in the resulting colours. And be aware that thin veneers and
thick, solid pieces of the same species will absorb different amounts
of stain.

After staining, wait a day before proceeding with the assembly. Have
a small wet rag on hand to wipe away excess glue that may squeeze out
of joints. If you’re using bar or spring clamps, the jaws should
be padded or you should put softwood scraps between the jaws and the kit
wood to avoid marring it. And unless the manufacturer recommends or provides
something else, use yellow carpenter’s glue, which creates a very
strong bond. After reading all the directions, work slowly and steadily
through each step. When you’re done, set the piece aside for a day
so the glue can cure before the topcoat is applied.

Your choice of clear topcoats includes products that can be brushed or
wiped on, and some are even available in aerosol cans. Minwax®
Fast-Drying Polyurethane is an oil-based topcoat that comes in gloss,
semi-gloss or satin sheens.
Minwax® Polycrylic®
Protective Finish is water-based and recommended for use over Minwax®
Water Based Wood Stain. Polycrylic® dries
crystal clear in gloss, semi-gloss or satin sheens and cleans up with
soap and water. For interior and exterior wood that needs an extra measure
of protection from sun, rain and temperature changes, choose Minwax®
Helmsman® Spar Urethane in a gloss, semi-gloss
or satin sheen. For hand-rubbed beauty, use Minwax®
Wipe-On Poly, a polyurethane that provides a thin but durable layer
of protection in a gloss or satin sheen.

After the first coat of finish has dried, lightly sand the whole piece
with 220 or even 320 grit paper to knock off any raised grain or bumps
from dust. Do the same after each succeeding coat up to the final coat.
After that coat you can achieve ultimate smoothness by giving the finish
a final rubdown with 600 grit sandpaper dipped in a mineral or lemon oil.
That final step will make your finished kit look as good as or better
than the piece that’s still sitting in the furniture store.